Every few years in the Foreign Service, the calendar starts revolving around one thing: bidding. For some, it always revolves around it, and conversations amongst colleagues often drifts to conjecture about where folks are heading next.

For those outside the State Department, bidding is the process where employees compete for their next assignment. It isn’t as simple as picking your favorite city from a list. Every position has different requirements, priorities, and competition, while every bidder brings their own experience, skills, family considerations, and career goals. Somewhere in the middle of all that, the system tries to find the best match.

This year marks my fourth time going through the process, although it is truly the first “real” mid-level bidding season of my career.

One of the biggest differences between bidding as an entry-level officer and bidding as a mid-level officer is simply the number and variety of opportunities available and the sway you can have in the decision.

When I entered the Foreign Service, my first bid list was remarkably small, just seven assignments, most of them in Africa. As a new officer, your choices are intentionally limited. The Service is trying to fill its greatest needs while giving new employees the experience that comes from serving in more challenging environments. You don’t spend much time agonizing over dozens of possibilities because there simply aren’t dozens to choose from.

Fast forward several years, and the picture couldn’t be more different.

This year I have more than forty assignments available to bid on, spanning nearly every corner of the globe. Some are among the most austere posts in the Foreign Service, where daily life comes with significant challenges. Others are world-class cities that routinely appear on lists of the best places to live. There are massive embassies and tiny one-provider health units, bustling regional hubs and places most have never heard of. After years of building experience, the menu of possibilities has expanded dramatically.

Of course, having more choices doesn’t necessarily make bidding easier. In many ways, it makes it harder. Instead of asking, “Where can I go?” you’re asking, “Where should I go?” Career development, family considerations, professional growth, quality of life, future assignments, and simple personal preference all start pulling in different directions.

My first bid cycle was a leap into the unknown. Like every first-tour bidder, I had far more enthusiasm than experience, and I ultimately found myself assigned to Nouakchott, Mauritania. Looking back, it was exactly the kind of assignment that shapes a Foreign Service career. It wasn’t a place many people dream about before joining the Service, but it gave me incredible professional opportunities, lifelong friendships, and the confidence that I could thrive almost anywhere.

My second bidding cycle took an unexpected turn. I was initially assigned to Peshawar, Pakistan, but before everything was finalized, I was asked if I would be willing to switch assignments with another provider. After talking it over, I agreed, and that’s how I ended up in Rangoon, Burma. Sometimes your career path isn’t determined solely by your bid list. Flexibility has always been one of the defining characteristics of Foreign Service life, and occasionally saying “yes” to something unexpected opens doors you never anticipated.

My third bidding cycle barely counts. I simply bid to extend my tour in Rangoon, which made for a much less stressful process than packing up and starting over somewhere new. That was supposed to be my first “mid-level” bidding experience, which ended up anti-climactic but also great because I got to stay in a place i love.

This year feels different.

For the first time, I’m bidding as a mid-level provider with a couple of overseas tours behind me. I’ve spent my career serving in challenging posts, taking on increasingly complex responsibilities, and learning just how varied this job can be. Those experiences naturally become part of your bidding profile. While nothing is guaranteed, years spent serving in difficult environments do matter, and they are one of many factors considered during the assignment process.

Just as importantly, I have a much clearer understanding of what I’m looking for.

Professionally, I’d like to continue growing while taking on new challenges in a different environment. Like most bidders, I have a few assignments that I’d be thrilled to receive, several others that would still make for an incredible adventure, and probably a surprise or two that I haven’t even considered. One lesson the Foreign Service has taught me is that some of the assignments you know the least about often become the ones you remember most fondly.

It’s a good problem to have. After years of serving in some of the Service’s more challenging posts, having the opportunity to compete for assignments all over the world feels less like a reward and more like the natural next chapter in a career that’s steadily opening new doors. It also helps that I was recently promoted. I don’t have to stress over if this assignment or that assignment might be better for my career or be the position I need to get promoted. I can just focus on what interests me.

For now, though, the preparation is done. The conversations have happened, the bid list has been submitted, and the waiting begins.

If everything stays on schedule, I should know where I’m headed sometime in the middle of November.

Until then, it’s business as usual in Rangoon. Patients still need to be seen, medevacs still happen, and daily life continues while hundreds of Foreign Service employees quietly refresh their email a little more often than normal. -Nick